Edson Alvarez and Emerson celebrate Edson Alvarez and Emerson celebrate Emerson's second-half header earned West Ham a 1-1 draw with Aston Villahot646, as Graham Potter's team produced a much-improved display at Villa Park. (More Football News)
The wing-back crept round the back to nod Edson Alvarez's cross home on 70 minutes as Villa's midweek Champions League exploits seemed to catch up with them.
An excellent Jacob Ramsey goal had given the hosts the lead inside 10 minutes before they lost defender Tyrone Mings to a worrying knee injury.
But Unai emery's side appeared to run out of gas after half-time and the Hammers came on strong, with Danny Ings and Lucas Paqueta both going close to a winner.
The draw sees West Ham move 11 points clear of the bottom three, while Villa remain eighth, four points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.
𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝟏-𝟏 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐦: 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐒They may not have won, but it was a promising performance from Graham Potter's West Ham.Was this a sign of how good they could be under Potter?Re-live the game with the key stats and Opta chalkboard right here
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) January 26, 2025Data Debrief: Hammers show signs of life
An injury list featuring Jarrod Bowen, Crysencio Sumemrville, Niclas Fullkrug and Michail Antonio meant Graham Potter fielded Paqueta as a false nine at Villa Park.
slots of fortuneAnd while he will wish a couple of his side's best chance had fallen to natural marksmen, West Ham's new boss will be encouraged by a display that saw them rack up 14 shots and an xG of 1.39.
The Hammers came on particularly strong after half-time, posting 1.06 of that xG tally in the second period, and also dominated in terms of final-third entries, touches in the box and big chances.
Villa ended up with just 45.6% of the possession and mustered one shot on target in the second period.
The first match of the final round of group matches took place between Korea and Malaysia and resulted in a 3-3 draw. The splitting of points confirmed Korea's qualification to the semifinal. The draw also ensured that Pakistan would finish second in the group regardless of their result in their last group match against India.
The India-Pakistan hockey rivalry has lost its sheen in recent times. Hockey in Pakistan has been in a freefall for the last decade or so while Indians have made a tremendous comeback in the same time period. The two countries used to rule world hockey at one point and the seeds for it were sown during the British rule in India.
They did score a fine opener early onhot646, though, with Watkins becoming just their second ever player to be directly involved in 100 Premier League goals, after Gabriel Agbonlahor.